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The Mentalist Review: Poker Anyone?

There seems to be a poker theme in The Mentalist season 5 - and "Red in Tooth and Claw" kept it going. With this many bluffs and turns, who needs Red John... or is it all just a metaphor for the game the infamous serial killer has been playing with Patrick Jane?

There were so many wonderfully funny and mildly flirty moments tonight that I hope I remember them all.

First, who would have guessed that Lisbon would pass out over flesh eating bugs? She's probably witnessed hundreds of dead bodies in various stages of decomposition but the bugs were particularly gross. The best part was the Patrick went to catch her as she fell. I don't think he even saw that one coming.

Jane did a great job of dissecting the subconscious of the scientists based on what they chose to study. As he told the doctor in one of many great The Mentalist quotes…

Nobody picks what they dedicate their life to by accident. It says something. | permalink

From the dark thoughts of primates to the tenaciousness of the woodpecker to... moths? Deciding to spend your life studying moths should have been a dead giveaway but then again I've always been annoyed by those particular flying creatures.

Paul killed LInda over a moth. Yes, I know it was about his career and losing his job and blah, blah, blah, but he stabbed a women in the neck to steal her moth! That's simply pathetic.

Linda's colleagues were all out for themselves. Megan enjoyed watching her pain, Paul was insanely jealous of her success and Sonya was only happy about Linda's successes because she felt it made her look good. Linda worked with some really horrific human beings.

I've always loved it when Jane visits his memory palace and this was no exception. It's one of those quirky Janeisms that I've grown to enjoy.

I also loved that Jane brought everyone gifts from the museum shop, but did he bring something back for Lisbon? The gifts sparked one of the funniest conversations between Rigsby and Cho that we've ever witnessed.

Rigsby: How can you like Triceratops more than T-Rex? Cho: T-Rex are losers. Little arms. It's chicken with teeth. | permalink

And it only got better with Cho calling out Rigsby on his feelings for Grace. Cowards don't get to say goodbye when they want. If Rigsby wants the girl it's time to man up. Of course the best he could do in that moment was watch Cho walk away and mutter…

Even with all of that, the best was yet to come. I found it ironic that Jane put on his white hat and rode to the rescue to get Bertram to authorize the funding for Grace's White Hat training. He's always had a soft spot for her.

Then Jane used his wedding ring to ward off the doctor's advances and it's not the first time he's done that. I suppose keeping that ring on comes in handy from time to time.

Of course, the best scene of the night was having Jane challenge Lisbon to some poker using gummy dinosaurs. Any fans of Castle would remember a similar scene from season one, but it's taken Jane and Lisbon to season five to get to that level of flirting although it makes it no less fun to watch.

Here's to more funny, flirty episodes of The Mentalist in our near future.